This is a prototype of a bolsterless combat knife with broad non-military applications.

One of the major concerns expressed to us by our military/law enforcement feedback group was the risk of their trainees sliding a hand past the handle to the blade under slippery conditions. This knife features extremely long quillons to help protect beginners.

For experts the knife can be manipulated/rotated in the fingers and held cutting edge up. The circular indent on the spine is actually the choil when the knife is held edge up. The handle is comfortable and the knife feels solid in the hand. We did another prototype with a brown handle with texturing and decided the texturing was a definite plus under the slippery conditions we reasonably foresee. Finally most of the ex-special forces feedback was a request for a blade in the six inch rather than seven inch range with the precise length depending on the overall design. This knife has a 6 1/2" blade appropriate to its design.

The SHF knife was designed to be a high quality/high utility knife at a fair and reasonable price.

Because of the shiny finish on this prototype we do not recommend this particular specimen for military use. The finish is good, especially for a knife in this price range, but not what we can provide on a $275 knife so we are rating this specific knife as Second (darn nice but not cosmetically perfect for collectors).

The blade was professionally heat treated by a third-party specialist to HRC 58. The quality of the heat treatment is generally MORE IMPORTANT than the specific steel.

The knife comes with the embossed leather sheath shown. Do not store the knife in the sheath, or the sheath adjacent to the knife long-term, as leather extrudes corrosive oil and gives off corrosive fumes. Sheaths are for transport only, not storage. Please educate yourself on knife cleaning and maintenance to preserve your investment.